The Melville man had an oversized decal designed to replicate the plate in question. 'Well I just wanted to go big!'

Dave Assman of Melville, Sask. had a giant vanity plate bearing his name painted on the tailgate of his truck after Saskatchewan Government Insurance again refused to issue a legitimate plate with his name on it.Photo courtesy Dave Assman

When it comes to celebrating his family name, Dave Assman refuses to take no for an answer.

After Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI) denied his latest request for an ‘ASSMAN’ vanity licence plate, the Melville man had an oversized decal designed to replicate the plate in question and then placed the decal on the tailgate of his white Dodge Ram pickup truck.

Assman — pronounced OSS-men — said he appealed SGI’s decision on Tuesday and received a message around four hours later that his request had once again been rejected. Then the railroad worker took action.

“See, I hate to say it but I’m kinda a sarcastic ass and well I just wanted to go big!” he said later via direct message.

In addition to his name, the decal includes the word “Saskatchewan” and the provincial motto, “Land of Living Skies.” It even features what looks like the four bolt openings used for attaching licence plates to vehicles.

Dave Assman of Melville, Sask. had a giant vanity plate bearing his name painted on the tailgate of his truck after Saskatchewan Government Insurance again refused to issue a legitimate plate with his name on it. (Photo courtesy Dave Assman)SASwp

Assman first tried to put his name on a licence plate in the 1990s. That application was rejected by SGI as “profanity.” His recent application was denied on the grounds that it was “offensive, suggestive or not in good taste.”

SGI, like all provincial authorities responsible for vanity plates, refuses any application that has even a whiff of sexuality, drug references, politics or religion. Its list of rejected vanity plates runs to 85 pages.

Speaking to the National Post last week, SGI spokesman Tyler McMurchy said the agency generally errs on the side of caution.

“Even if a word is someone’s name and pronounced differently than the offensive version, that’s not something that would be apparent to other motorists who will see the plate,” McMurchy said.

In an email on Wednesday, McMurchy said SGI’s official response is contained in a tweet on its official Twitter account: “All’s well that ends well,” SGI tweeted along with a smily-face emoji.

Dick Assman poses by a gas pump at a South Albert St. Petro-Canada gas station in Regina, Saskatchewan on Tuesday, May 19, 2015Michael Bell /
Canadian Press

This is not the first time a Saskatchewan resident named Assman has achieved a sense of prominence.

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